Chicago Area Players & The Draft

Tommy Catomer, a former Prospect High grad is drawing interest from several teams and should be drafted, although in a lower round. Several teams have been following him, with the Mets showing the most interest. Tom pitched for Grand Canyon University (D2) this year.

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2bagger

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Posted May 30, 2008 03:09 PM Hide Post
I bet Tyler Ladendorf goes pretty high also. He has been putting up some monster numbers at a juco in texas. I think he might have fallen off some radars out of high school as he was hurt either junior or senior season. How many people had Christian on their radars leaving high school? Congrats to both on great seasons!

2Bagger - I believe Tyler is considered the # 1 juco position player prospect in the draft. Last I heard, he was batting .500+ with about 16 HR. This year will be his third time being drafted.
Good luck Tyler

I beleive that tt, always glad to see locel talent doing well.

Expect Dan Brewer, junior from Bradley (Lyons Township), to get drafted in th early rounds. He played at the Cape last summer and was in the top fifteen in hitting.

I predict Martini gets drafted and signs quickly. Scouts know he is open to signing and I think if the right money and situation is put in front of him....it will be " goodbye " K-State !

Roy, you have obviously have been getting some hints about Martini's situation I assume. The reason being because I though as of late Nick wanted to go to college, get the full experience of not only collegiate baseball but also school. Unless he's drafted in the top ten rounds, which you might know he will be, I disagree with you. By the way, do you know what teams are looking at him right now? My sources previously told me the Tampa Bay Rays always had high interest. Also, what about Swank, Heesch, Martin, and Mitroff, Roy, anything else on there latest draft status'?

I'm not saying Nick doesn't want to go to college...he just might if the money isn't right. The scenario will be if the teams that draft him assess the round they want to get him and the direct amount of money associated with that round. His advisor Barry Meister is a top notch agent who will no doubt try to parlay his deal at K-State into some good cash. Most players of Nick's caliber should play it as Nick and his dad appear to be doing. I think it is pretty shrewed to be candid. The other guys are going to college. They could all be drafted but all have let it be known they would more than likely be wasting the pick. Either way, Martini is in the catbird seat on draft day. I'm leaning toward him signing. Nick was born to play.

Thanks for the good info Roy, and we shall see what happens come Thursday's draft. I agree with you about Martini as a player, and I see it now too, him and his dad have been thinking about Thursday since, when, like the fall of his junior season, maybe even before, right? So there is no doubt that if the money and team is right, he will go pro.

Any opinions on Austin Wright, John Ruettiger, Tony Zych, Kyle Stroup, Jordan Sivertsen or Joey DeBernardis?
Draft? School?

Stroup and Wright I think may sign. Besides the obvious body type that the scouts druel over...both have other factors the scouts find attractive. As we all know...there are no secrets from scouts. They know a players grades and the coorelation to signability, me vs we, work ethic, and most importantly projecting a timeline on a players development.

I think the other three are college bound. But Wright and Stroup in my opinion will sign.

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They could all be drafted but all have let it be known they would more than likely be wasting the pick. Either way, Martini is in the catbird seat on draft day. I'm leaning toward him signing. Nick was born to play.

Are you kidding me. I read the Daily Herald here in Lake County and follow HS Baseball in the north and northwest suburbs. Only 3 of those kids made all area (all very deserving). How could they not make all area and be drafted? The others are not even the best in their conference. Let's lay off the Draft Kool Aid and come back to reality.

I guess if your a scout and a player not making the papers all area team is your threshold of whether to draft or not...then I would agree with the Kool Aid comment. BTW I think I said could be denotes an opinion...Each player I was refering to...has been contacted by major league teams and filled out their profile questionaires. As far as I know...all have communicated they are going to college pretty much no matter what.

But I do like cherry kool aid though !!

I don't really like the implication that Pros sign players because somehow they either don't have good grades or they are more about themselves than the team. Not too sure what the "work ethic" comment is about? Maybe you could explain that one to me.

Not implying anything negative...just how many different variables come into play.

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Originally posted by Baseball Spectator:

Are you kidding me. I read the Daily Herald here in Lake County and follow HS Baseball in the north and northwest suburbs. How could they not make all area and be drafted?

The answer is, have a #1 pitcher that does not get run support. It's pretty tough to win when your team doesn't score. The result is, you're a draftable pitcher but your W-L record doesn't make All Area. Last year at LZ the number two pitcher made all area and the number one didn't, in exactly that scenario. The number two was not considered pro material, while the number one was.

The Daily Herald doesn't watch all these kids, they just look at the stats and make their selections based on a snapshot.

I don't think he was referring to pitchers in his comments. That being said if it was a pitcher wouldn't they also look at his era so vs walks and such to determine not just w-l record?

Many receive major league questionaires. This does not necessarily mean you are draftable, just on the radar as a possible player to watch for the future.

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Originally posted by lineshot:
I don't think he was referring to pitchers in his comments. That being said if it was a pitcher wouldn't they also look at his era so vs walks and such to determine not just w-l record?

Absolutely they would, which is why a player who didn't make all area would still be considered a pro prospect.

As for stat trashing, I remember seeing the stats from an un-named high school team that did not have one batter reaching base by "error." Right....

Reporters/parents get caught up in them (stats) but CPLZ is totally correct.

Summer travel teams don't even keep stats. At least our team doesn't & a big chunk of the players go on to play after high school. What does that tell you?

Do you think the scouts care that you go 4-4 against a team with an 0-30 record? Doubt it. They want to see if you can hit a 90 mph fastball - not a 70 mph one.

I agree with the Kool-Aid comment.

Not too many kids who throw in the low to mid 80's are going to get drafted.

Not too many kids who were successful but lack the tools or physical make-up that are projectable to the pro level are going to get drafted.

No doubt draft talk is thrown around loosely in this forum.

Out of curiosity, why would anyone tell a pro team that they are not interested in getting drafted without ever hearing an offer? Seems to me that you would at least like to know what you are leaving on the table.

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Originally posted by FastballDad:
I agree with the Kool-Aid comment.

Not too many kids who throw in the low to mid 80's are going to get drafted.

Not too many kids who were successful but lack the tools or physical make-up that are projectable to the pro level are going to get drafted.

No doubt draft talk is thrown around loosely in this forum.

FBD, I don't think this is exclusive to the hsbaseballweb's forums. I think this is a general occurance everywhere. In many ways it is concurrent with the kind of thought process where the kid who throws 85 is "talked up" as throwing 90. We all know that that is a common theme. Add to that the idea that posters who's kids have played, or posters themselves, have played against some of these players and so, want to build the mystique by hyping them. The 98 team I helped coach went 40-0. Man o man did we have kids with stats. However, none of those kids were drafted out of high school. NO not one. Yes, eventually a few of them did get to play professionally and a couple made it to the bigs. Again, my point is Hype seems to be the rage everywhere. JMHO!

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Originally posted by RRF8:
Out of curiosity, why would anyone tell a pro team that they are not interested in getting drafted without ever hearing an offer? Seems to me that you would at least like to know what you are leaving on the table.

RRF8, I think most prospective draft choices have a very good idea about what they are leaving on the table due to slotting. In most cases, players don't tell teams that they aren't interested in getting drafted, but they may tell teams that they want more money than where the team has them slotted.

I think every high school baseball player wants to get drafted. What could be cooler than that?

Mike F

I agree with you whole-heartedly Mike. Roy was just saying that the PR kids told the pros that they would be wasting their pick if the pros drafted them. Why would you tell them that, unless they made you a poor offer or slotted you unfavorably?

Draft slots are not determined by the scouts, conversations about slots happen to those projected first or the sandwich pick. Players have no idea what rounds they are to be selected. Projections are nothing more than an educated guesses take them at face value.

His advisor Barry Meister is a top notch agent who will no doubt try to parlay his deal at K-State into some good cash.

Who else has Barry Meister advised?

Barry Meister is an agent for many MLB players including Randy Johnson and Tim Wakefield.

hey pitchandcatch97, I'm just curious, what do you think about Martini's situation? Going pro no matter what or destined for to be a Wildcat?

Baseball America online has the draft prospects from Illinois on their site today. Believe me, most of the names of the HS players that are being touted in this forum are absent from this particular list. BA claims that this isn't a very deep year for players in the Prairie State.

Rosy, who are some of the names on the list for those of us who can't afford the subscription?

FVCFan...I do not want to speculate either way for Nick. He is a true 5-tool player with a great work ethic and I believe he will be successful at KState or in a professional organization.

I believe LHP Rick Zagone of Mizzou and formerly of Prairie Ridge will hear his name called at some point in this draft.

Does anyone know how many rounds there are today? Is it just the first two that are on TV, or are there more?

I'm pretty sure the first 5 rounds are done today with ESPN2 televising the first two. The final rounds take place on Friday.

You can follow in the mlb 2008 draft tracker.

Norfrank,

Here are the BA listings of only the HS players in Illinois.

Top 200 players Nationally
Jake Odorizzi (36)

Others Prospects of Note

Danny Jimenez, St. Charles North
Otto Roberts, Bellville West HS
Austin Wright, Conant
Jonathon Weaver, East Leyden HS
Braden Kapteyn, Illiana Christian HS
Tony Zych, St. Rita
John Ruettiger, Joliet Catholic HS
Kyle Stroup, Grant Community HS
Seth Hood, Moline HS

That's it for the Illinois HS players. There was obviously a much larger list that included the college players.